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Macon Cove Fairfield Inn Sells for $2.3 Million

Minesh Patel of Memphis has paid $2.3 million for the 63-room Fairfield Inn & Suites at 6010 Macon Cove in Northeast Memphis.

Patel bought the 30,000-square-foot, three-story hotel in a Nov. 18 special warranty deed from RLJ II – F Memphis LLC, an affiliate of Bethesda, Md.-based RLJ Lodging Trust. That company bought the hotel in June 2006 for $2.3 million from Limited Service – Austin North Airport LLC.

Built in 1995, the hotel sits on 1.5 acres along the north side of Macon Cove near its intersection with Sycamore View Road and just south of the Sycamore View exit on Interstate 40. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $1.6 million.

In conjunction with the purchase, Minesh Patel and Jagruti Patel filed a $3.8 million commercial deed of trust through Centennial Bank.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Daily News staff

Marston Group Adds Courtenay to Practice

The Marston Group PLC, a Memphis certified public accounting and financial consulting firm, has added Terry Courtenay as a member of the firm’s practice.

Courtenay, a certified public accountant, has experience providing tax and advisory services to predominantly family-held businesses, and he’s worked with a variety of businesses, including in the fields of real estate and agriculture.

The Marston Group was founded in 1985.

– Andy Meek

Multiple Sclerosis Society Adds Trustees

The Mid-South Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has added 10 people from the Memphis area to its board of trustees.

Diamond Rio to Receive Liberty Bowl Award

Country music group Diamond Rio is being honored at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Classic game and will perform at the halftime of this year’s matchup in Memphis.

The group will receive an outstanding achievement award, which is presented each year in recognition of excellence in the field of music and entertainment. The group will perform at a gala function the night before the game and then again at halftime on New Year’s Eve.

The Grammy award-winning group has sold more than 10 million records and been selected as the Country Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year four times.

– The Associated Press

Lawmakers Urge Bidding for Gates in Airline Merger

Four key members of Congress say that all airlines – not just low-fare carriers – should be able to bid on gates and landing rights that American Airlines and US Airways will give up after their merger.

The leaders of the House and Senate transportation committees say they’re worried that unless the big airlines can bid, service between Washington and some smaller cities may be lost.

The U.S. Justice Department settled a lawsuit against the merger earlier this month after American and US Airways agreed to give up gates and landing rights at several big airports, notably Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

On Friday, top Democrats and Republicans on the transportation committees released a letter that they sent to Attorney General Eric Holder protesting terms of that settlement.

– The Associated Press

US Job Openings, Hiring Reach 5-Year Highs

U.S. job openings and overall hiring both reached five-year highs in September, signaling steady improvement in the job market.

Job postings rose 69,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.9 million, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s the most since March 2008, just a few months after the Great Recession began. It’s also close to the roughly 4 million job openings each month that are consistent with healthier job markets.

Total hiring increased 26,000 to 4.6 million, the highest level since August 2008. The gain suggests employers are not only posting more jobs but are also taking greater steps to fill them.

September’s total hiring is still below the roughly 5 million people who are typically hired in sturdier job markets.

The number of people who quit their jobs in September dipped from August but was still about 15 percent higher than a year earlier. People usually quit their jobs when they have another one lined up, or when they are certain they can find one. More quits is a sign of confidence in the job market.

The growth in hiring, job openings and quits points to more movement in the job market, which can create opportunities for those out of work or who are looking for another job.

It also shows that competition for jobs is easing. There were 2.88 unemployed people, on average, for each available job in September. That’s the lowest since August 2008 and down from 7 to 1 in July 2009, just after the recession ended. In a healthy economy, the ratio is usually about 2 to 1.

Unemployment is still high at 7.3 percent. But other reports suggest the job market is healing.

– The Associated Press

Mississippi Jobless Rate Holds Steady

Mississippi’s unemployment rate held at 8.5 percent in October, according to figures released Friday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The jobless rate in August and September also was 8.5 percent. The unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in October 2012.

The labor force declined by more than 7,000 people between September and October. Mississippi’s labor force has fallen every month in 2013.

Mississippi had 109,000 unemployed people in October, down 1,000 from September and also down from 121,000 in October 2012.

The national unemployment rate was little changed from September at 7.3 percent and was 0.6 percentage point lower than in October 2012.

– The Associated Press

New Wiggle Room for Health Plan Sign-Ups

The Obama administration says people will have another eight days this year to sign up for insurance under the health care law and still get coverage by Jan. 1

The extra wiggle room announced Friday is important because it could prevent people from having a break in coverage on account of the government’s balky enrollment website. That’s critical for those losing current individual policies that don’t measure up under the law, and also for high-risk patients in a small federal insurance program that ends Jan. 1. Under the change people will have until Dec. 23 to enroll and still be covered the first year.